Each year over 1 million pacemaker and implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) implants are performed around the world. Each implant carries multiple risks, one of the most frequent of these being hematoma formation, which occurs anywhere from 2-5% of cases. Hematoma (localized bleeding) increases discomfort, dramatically prolongs healing time and hospital stay, raises the risk of infection at the site, and is disappointing to both patient and physician alike.
Moreover, the risk of these bleeds may be increasing as patients are often maintained on anticoagulant and antiplatelet medications through the entire procedural timeframe. Hematomas are now regarded as a measurable complication that can affect a physicians' quality metrics and reimbursement. In fact, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has included this as such.
Common practice is to simply place a sterile dressing with adhesive tape over the wound area, with or without icepack or weight on top. This may be inexpensive but it is awkward and the tape removal painful. Furthermore, the adhesive tape may cause in allergic reaction in the patient's skin. The addition of an arm sling offers little benefit, and if kept in place too long, it may cause shoulder joint problems such as adhesive capsulitis that can require weeks of physical therapy.
This practice has evolved little or over the past 2 decades.
These and other drawbacks exist.